The financial turmoil, which started with the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the United States and whose effects clearly became global in mid-2007 with the collapse of several large international hedge funds and the near-collapse of a major industrial bank in Germany, followed by the breakdown of interbank lending markets in August 2007, has had important, continued impacts on the economy, including the insurance sector. Events took a turn for the worse when, during the second half of 2008, the crisis exploded into a global credit crunch following the collapse of major global financial institutions. The ensuing recession officially became, by April 2009, the second longest since the Great Depression. Following a fall of 2.1% in the first quarter of 2009, gross domestic product in the OECD area stabilised in the second and third quarters according to preliminary estimates.